Millions of Americans and people worldwide suffer from physically debilitating headaches. Symptoms can last more than an hour, and include a throbbing pain on one side of the head usually around the temple, nausea, blurring of vision, and sensitivity to light, sounds and smells. In about 10% of migraine occurrences, a visual aura such as blind spots, flickering points of light, double vision, or jagged lines, will precede the headache.
It has been speculated that vascular and neurogenic factors are responsible for migraine attacks. Migraines are known to be triggered, for example, by anxiety, shock, tension, fatigue and other stress factors, by menstruation and hormonal-fluctuation, by noise, flickering or bright lights, and by foods such as red wine, chocolate, wheat products, and those that contain additives such as MSG (canned soups, corn chips), tyramine (sour cream, parmesan cheese, soy sauce), and nitrites (cured meats, e.g., bacon, ham).
The aggravating effect of certain odors on migraine headaches has been documented in several studies. Blau and Solomon interviewed fifty migraine patients. Twenty of the fifty patients experienced osmophobia due to a variety of odors ranging from general cooking odor to wash-up liquid odor. Eleven patients reported that similar smells also triggered migraine headaches (Blau, et al., J. of Neurology, 232 (1985): 275-276). In another study, perfume and cigarette smoke triggered migraine headaches (Raffaeli, et al., Functional Neurology 1 (1986): 275-276). Blau's study on migraine triggers showed that certain foods induced migraines while non-migraine headaches were unaffected by them (Blau, J. N., The Lancet 339 (1992): 1203).
Studies have also shown smells to be part of migraine auras. Wolberg and Ziegler have reported a case of a woman who experienced olfactory hallucinations involving decaying animals before experiencing migraines (Wolberg, et al., Arch. Neurol. 39 (1982): 392). Crosley and Dhamoon described a mother and her daughter smelling odors similar to burning wood chips as a part of their aura (Crosley, et al., Archives of Neurology 40 (1983): 459). Diamond et al. mentions a woman who smelled cigarette smoke before, during and after her migraine headache even though she was not a smoker and was not around anyone who smoked (Diamond S. et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 312 (1985): 1390). Three migraine patients in Fuller and Guiloff's study reported smelling peanut butter and cigars (Fuller, et al., Neurol. Neurosurg. Psych. 50 (1987): 1688-1690). Morrison and Price found that 13% of their subjects experienced gustatory hallucinations during migraine attacks (Morrison, et al., Psychology Medicine 19 (1989): 919-925).
Conventional treatments for migraines are directed to oral medications to prevent the headache or reduce the symptoms. Examples include migraine abortives such as ergotamines and sumatriptan, preventatives such as anti-depressants and calcium channel blockers, analgesic pain reducers (Tylenol.TM.), and anti-nausea drugs. The ingestion of herbal solutions and teas has also been suggested, such as those made from feverfew, wood betony, chamomile, valerian root, and others. Also disclosed are various liquid formulations that are dispensed to the nasal cavity or directed to the respiratory passages to prevent recurring headaches (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,554,639 and 5,008,289). Other treatments involve biofeedback, acupuncture, and meditation.
None of the currently known or used treatments for migraine headaches provide consistently effective therapy for preventing or reducing the pain and other symptoms of a migraine headache. A significant drawback of current treatments is the use of drugs and other chemical substances that must be ingested or applied to mucosal tissue for absorption into the bloodstream.
A survey of 109 migraine patients by Blau revealed that fifty patients could tolerate eating and drinking during migraines. Of the fifty patients, twenty-seven patients reported that eating reduced the severity and the length of migrainous symptoms. Five patients actually reported having cravings for certain foods. The patients in the study ate mostly starchy foods during attacks (Blau, J. N., Cephalalgia 13 (1993): 293-295). The reason these foods were effective in reducing headache may have been due to the retronasal smell provided during chewing.
Studies have shown that ambient odors can reduce anxiety and change emotions (King, J. R., Perfumery: The Psychology and the Biology of Fragrance, Van Toller and Dodd (eds.), London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1988, pp. 147-165). Schiffman describes a study in which patients were conditioned to associate a certain odor with a relaxed state. Patients were able to reduce the severity of their anxiety episodes by inhaling their designated fragrance (Schiffman, S., Fragrance:. The Psychology and Biology of Perfume, Van Toller and Dodd (eds.), London: Elsevier Applied Science, 1992, pp. 57-58). In a study by Hirsch on the relationship of odors and perceptions of room size, the subjects perceived the size of a small booth to the larger after inhaling a scent similar to green apples. Hirsch speculated that the green apple scent reduced the anxiety of being enclosed in a small space and thereby increased the perceived room size (Hirsch, et al., Manuscript 1994: 2).
Therefore, an object of the invention is to provide a means that can be used by an individual to hinder or reduce the effect of a migraine headache that overcomes such shortcomings, and does not require the ingestion or absorption of a drug or other chemical substance into the bloodstream of the user. Another object is to provide an effective but simple means of treating and/or preventing a headache, particularly a severe migraine headache, and other forms of pain. Another object is to provide such means in a form that is readily available for use, and is portable and can be easily carried by the user.